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Great news for the local economy!
8:49 pm on December 21st, 2007 by Dave Segal
A couple from Swansea
apparently won last month’s big-ass powerball jackpot, likely yielding a whole new crop of local “believers” who will squander even more dough than they already do.Lottos suck: They’re super-regressive — far more so than casinos — and while people should be able to gamble, the state shouldn’t actively try to dupe its constituents into throwing away their earnings.
Perhaps the single craziest Rhode Island factoid of which I’m aware: Lotto sales per-capita are tops in the nation, at $1,373 a pop. You read that right. Mass. is pretty bad too — number 5, at $683. (
Those are 2004 stats.) The median state is Texas, at less than one-tenth our per-capita rate.
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December 22nd, 2007 at 1:47 am
Segal: A factoid is an invented, alleged, fact. These numbers are statistics, not facts. Try harder.
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:26 am
You will earn the right to complain once you agree to start writing for us.
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:05 pm
The Tax foundation seems to be putting it out there as fact. Actually, they’re numbers are pretty interesting- number 2, at $865 per capita, is South Dakota (!!) which is weird; I figured the top states would be the denser, smaller ones, like RI and MA.
Also, number two SD is $865? Over 50% more per capita than the next state on the list??
I wonder how much of what based on these numbers appears to be $1.4 BILLION goes back into the state budget, and what the profit margin is for the companies/privateers/tax-farmers.